The Silver Lotus War

Military action

With the withdrawal of the Ordering's forces from the Crimson Coast there was a power vacuum that needed to be filled. The Order of the Silver Lotus made a play for power, hoping to unify all the cities under one central government. This was opposed by a coalition of city states.

The Order of the Silver Lotus was a secret society that had opposed the Ordering for many years. It included many prominent members of the aristocracy and a great many of the armed class (samurai). With the Ordering gone they attempted to unify the island under a strong central government. They were opposed most strongly by the rulers of the city of Talonwheel and their allies.   Soon hostilities broke out. The inciting incident was the Crimson Feast in which a dozen members of the ruling family of Talonwheel were killed during a diner hosted by a treacherous friend of the family. The head of the family escaped an soon marshalled his forces for war against the Silver Lotus. He was declared the Shogun of the Crimson Coast by his allied cities.   The treacherous act of the Lotus allowed Talonwheel to rally many cities to their cause. By 2023 the Silver Lotus was near defeat. Rashly the Shogun chased their remaining forces into the Silver Hights. His army was then ambushed and defeated in a valley which ever since bears the name Seppuku Valley, after the hundreds of samurai who killed themselves rather than surrender to their enemies.   After this battle the war settled into a stalemate. The Coalition led by Talonwheel dominated the north of the island, while the Order of the Silver Lotus held the south. Raiding and skirmishing continued, but neither side mounted any large campaign. This all changed in 2073. Talonwheel and their allies gathered a force of three great armies under a Shogun. These forces attacked the Silver Lotus from all sides. The grueling war that followed consisted mostly of bitter sieges. In fact no large field battles were fought. The last stronghold of Silver Lotus resistance was crushed in 2089 with the fall of Fortress Defiance, deep in the mountains. The Silver Lotus fought to the last, none survived.   With the common threat defeated the various states of the Crimson Coast soon fell into infighting. No similar collective effort was mustered for many years. Some say the Silver Lotus still exist, hiding, plotting their revenge. Historians dismiss this as mere conspiracy theories, concocted by people too fond of Sake.